Mel Gibson Hopping on the Vikings Bandwagon

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This is shaping up to be quite the year for Vikings, and not the purple clan pillaging their way toward the Super Bowl behind their grizzled quarterback.

Mel Gibson, who donned Scottish war paint in "Braveheart," is taking on another piece of history with a yet-untitled Viking project also featuring Leonard DiCaprio. Seems Gibson’s always wanted to wear a helmet with horns and speak a language no one understands.

"I was 16 years old and I wanted to make a Viking movie. I wanted to make it in Old Norse," Gibson said at a press conference for "Edge of Darkness. "That was the first big, epic idea I had. To show Vikings real."

While Gibson was criticized for his grasp of history in "Braveheart," more recent projects have famously striven for language accuracy. He made "The Passion of the Christ "in a mix of Aramaic, Latin and Hebrew. "Apocalypto" was entirely in subtitled Mayan.

The people Gibson’s 9th century Vikings pillage and the raiders themselves will speak "the English that would have been spoken back then. And Old Norse," said Gibson. "Whatever the 9th century had to offer. I'm going to give you real, man."

"I want a Viking to scare you," he added. "I want to see somebody I have never seen before who speaks low-guttural German who scares the s--- out of me coming up to my house."

Gibson believes Leo DiCaprio would have the chops to take the part on. He "will be amazing. He's a great actor this kid." And if there's not enough actors in Hollywood to pillage onscreen? "I'll just get my family," Gibson laughed.